Samba Review

Actors are always grappling with the conundrum as to whom are they making their films for. For the general public who look for something serious and sensitive or the section of dedicated fans that want formula stuff?

In these days of crass commercialization, most actors, play safe, and fall for the latter.

NTR Jr is a typical case in point. The actor with raw energy and robust enthusiasm has a set pattern to his films that showcase his strengths.

Dances oozing with rhythmic gusto, fights spilling guts, blood and some more, sentiments that make you to reach for your kerchief and some comic interludes aimed at your funny bone. And in between, if possible, try and affix a story.

This is NTR Jrs blueprint for success.

And he has been successful all the while with this and so you dare not question this.

His latest release Sambha dutifully follows this pattern and may very well go on to become a hit. If you are looking for some crusty cinematic showpiece, then Sambha may disappoint big time. It is a film made faithfully on what his fans look for in his films. On that score, NTR Jr scores full marks, almost.

The film is all about a big bad villain against an always-doing-good hero. The story begins with Sambha (NTR Jr) in the temple town of Kancheepuram. He is a master weaver. He has hands to work expertly on zaris and legs to pirouette in peppy dance movements.

But what this dyed in the wool Andhraite doing in the sleepy town in Tamilnadu? Well, he has been banished from his hometown in AP for one year. His crime? Well, he had finished off his brother-in-laws brothers over a family feud.

But why is he daggers drawn at his BIL, and who is his BIL? Prakash (Prakash Raj) is the scheming BIL who usurps Sambhas fathers (Vijay Kumar) granite quarry land. Sambha's sister also commits suicide over this. In the ensuing internecine battle, Sambha finishes off Prakash's family while Prakash dutifully returns the compliment. What is the punishment for unleashing such gore and violence? Both are told to not enter their hometown for one year. Sambha comes to Kanchi while Prakash whizzes off to Amristar (Ahem!).

And when they return, there is more bloodshed and more fisticuffs. After all the mayhem and murder, good triumphs over evil. Thrown into this well-masticated plot, is the message about the need for quality education institutions in areas of acute backwardness (like in Rayalseema, the backdrop to film). Of course, there is also the romantic interest of the hero --- the cute Genelia and the gamine Bhumika Chawla.

The story line (?) is such that the film banks heavily on the heroes mass appeal. NTR Jr does not flag at any point. Despite his over plumpness, NTR Jr is fulsome in whatever he does. He never flags. In dance. In action. In emotion. In everything. He gives off his best. He knows the film revolves around him and carries the burden manfully.

Prakash Raj as the main villain tends to go over the top in many places. He has his moments but he also gives the impression of being too stylized and can be accused of hamming at several places. His role also ---- a cardboard caricature --- also lets him down very badly. The other small villain Mansur Ali Khan (as the hideously named McDowell Mani) is eminently forgettable.

In such films, the heroines have very little to do and so it is with Genilia and Bhumika (each nicely hived off into each half). Both look good and add the requisite glamour. Acting? Well, look out for that in their next film.

Venu Madhav and Krishna Bhagawan provide some light-hearted mirth.

The music by Mani Sharma is too loud for ones ears and the songs are just rhythm-infes